VENEZUELAN President Nicolas Maduro led a huge “march for peace” through Caracas on Saturday, as opposition leader Maria Corina Machado addressed big crowds rallying against the government.

As with every election in the country since 2013, the opposition dispute the validity of the official results from the July 28 poll, claiming to have evidence that they won based on voting tallies from individual polling stations. The Supreme Court is currently reviewing the voting records.

Ms Machado called on “the world and everyone in Venezuela [to] recognise that the president-elect is [opposition presidential candidate] Edmundo Gonzalez.” Mr Gonzalez has been recognised as the winner by the United States, Peru, Argentina, Ecuador, Panama and Costa Rica.

Mr Maduro struck a defiant tone as he led marchers to the Miraflores Palace, saying: “I am happy to open the door of this presidential palace to its owner, the sovereign people of Venezuela, the sole owner of political power in Venezuela.”

He suggested that the opposition’s bid for power had already been broken, saying “La Sayona did not last two weeks” — using the name of a vengeful female ghost from Venezuelan folklore to refer to Ms Machado.

His address came after a Friday resolution by the Organisation of American States, presented by the US, that condemned alleged “serious irregularities and violence” in the electoral process. 

The Venezuelan government is accused of a crackdown on the opposition, which has called on the military to take down the president and whose mobilisations have been accompanied by armed attacks on public institutions and suspected government supporters. The resolution was co-sponsored by 10 countries, though, apart from Chile, Latin America’s left-leaning governments didn’t back it.